SONOMA, Calif. (Aug. 20, 2012) – Two teams will unveil exotic new cars for the Cadillac Sonoma Grand Prix in Sonoma, Aug. 24-25, the season finale of the 2012 World Challenge Championship.

A Mercedes-Benz and Maserati will join the field for the Cadillac Sonoma Grand Prix, which will serve as the Saturday feature at the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma race weekend.

One of the most ambitious projects is the No. 24 MBBS-Evosport Engineering Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK63 Black Series, which will be piloted by Craig Stanton in the GT class. Stanton, from Long Beach, has one World Challenge start - and one victory - on his resume, winning at Long Beach in 2009. The car, which began life as an Evosport-tuned AMG CLK63 Black Series street car, is the culmination of a year’s worth of development, fabrication, and testing by Evosport Engineering.

"It has been a long road to get here, but I am very excited that we get to finally take our AMG CLK63 Black Series racing," said Stanton. "The car is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait for the racing world to see what the guys at Evosport Engineering have been working on this year.”

Doing battle with race-prepared Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Cadillac CTS-V, and Chevrolet Corvettes in the GT class, it will be the only Mercedes-Benz raced professionally in North America. The team will compete full-time in Pirelli World Challenge in 2013.

Kordestani Ventures Racing will bring another top European marque to the World Challenge Championships grid when the team debuts its No. 49 Maserati Trofeo GranSport in the GTS class. Vafa Kordestani of Redwood City, will pilot the car.

“We are running the Sonoma race to get our feet wet, and then do the entire year in 2013,” said Kordestani. “I think it will be quite exciting to have such a famous Italian brand in the series with a rich racing history.”

World Challenge qualifying is set for Friday, Aug. 24, with the main event slated for Saturday, Aug. 25, at noon. The Cadillac Sonoma Grand Prix will be streamed live online at www.world-challengetv.com on Saturday, Aug. 25, at noon PT. The television broadcast on NBC Sports will be shown on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 3:30 p.m. PT. For more information on the event weekend or to purchase tickets, visit racesonoma.com or call 800-870-RACE (7223).

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GoPro Indy® Grand Prix of Sonoma WeekendWHAT: Big O Tires Racing Season Presents: GoPro Indy Grand Prix of SonomaWHEN: Aug. 24-26CIRCUIT: 2.31-mile, 12-turn road course2011 WINNER: Will Power (Team Penske)NOTABLE: The weekend will include Brasil IT+ Pole Day on Saturday, Aug. 25, as well as the Cadillac Sonoma World Challengeand Formula Car Challenge.TICKETS: $10-$65 single day/$65-$85 weekend; parking is FREE and kids 12 and under are FREE (Friday and Saturday). Garage passes are available for purchase.INFORMATION: 800-870-RACE (7223), racesonoma.com/indy, ticketmaster.com

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